My sermon notes for Wednesday night, June 15^th.  Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. The church provides a live stream of the service each Wednesday at 6:30 on Facebook. We also provide the services through YouTube. You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.

Thoughts

• We all have people that we love that we want to come to true saving faith in Christ.
• After our VBS, we have young children we want to see come to true saving faith in Christ.
• We look at the world in which we live and we desire for people to come to saving faith in the Christ.
• Yet, how do we go about being used of God to see these conversions take place.

WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND HOW SALVATION WORKS

A person has a role in salvation

• A person must respond
• A person must repent of our sin and place our faith in Christ
• If they do, then they WILL be saved.

John 1:12 – To all who did

John 3:16 – Whoever believes

Acts 2:38 – Repent

Acts 3:19 – Repent and turn

Eph. 2:8 – Our faith

God has a role in salvation

• God has a much bigger role in salvation.
• Think about how we pray for someone – “God please save my children”
• Even though man is responsible… we must acknowledge God’s sovereignty.

Acts 16:14 – God opened the heart of Lydia

John 1:13 – Born of the will of God

2 Timothy 2:24-26 – God may grant them

Our Salvation Is:

• Purposed by the Father
• Accomplished by the Son
• Applied by the Spirit

I TRULY believe both.

• I responded to the Gospel on my own will.
• Yet, I understand that God saved me.  (I did not save myself)

TWO BAD SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

1.  God has done everything He can do… the rest is up to us. (Arminianism)
2. There is no human involvement (Hyper-Calvinism)

IF I believe God has done all that is necessary, and the rest lies in their decision of a person…

• I will do whatever I can do to get someone saved.(repeat a prayer… do something)
• I will rest in my ABILITY
• We will do whatever it takes to see people saved (the unhealthy aspects of church growth)

IF I believe that man has no responsibility in the matter…

• I will not share the Gospel or believe in missions
• I will not look for opportunities to share the Gospel
• My life will have little desire to do “ministry”

MY MINISTRY (MY BALANCE):

I believe God is completely sovereign over all things

• He saves.  I did not save myself.
• He has provided and accomplished my salvation
• He opens the mind and changes the heart

I responded to the Gospel message

• I did not understand the deeper things of God when I became a believer.  I heard and believed.
• Yet, now I do know.  I did not save myself.
• This is truly grace!

THEREFORE, I LOVE AND TRUST IN THE GOSPEL

• I do not need to trust anything else but the Gospel.
  • The gospel saves not my personality or presentation.
  • We are to do all things with excellence, but it is God that saves through the hearing, believing, and trusting in the Gospel
• It is through the Gospel that God brings about redemption
  • I want to do my best to be crystal clear with the message.
  • It is not just A, B, C.  I want to be patient and clear.
• It is the Gospel by which a person responds

THEREFORE:

• We are praying people
• We are proclaiming people
• We are persuading people
• We are PEOPLE THAT LOVE TO DO MINISTRY
  • Build relationship
  • Share the Gospel
  • Disciple believers

CONCLUSION

How to make the greatest impact.

• You believe and live out the Gospel in front of your friends and family. (Our witness … our character)
• Love those that you believe are lost
• Trust in the divine plan of God
  • Trust the process
• Expose them to the Gospel
• Pray daily